TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — Troy University’s Concert Band took the stage at Claudia Crosby Theater on Sept. 30 for a performance focused on developing students’ skills as musicians.

Throughout the semester, the band works with music that gives students room to build their skills before moving on to more challenging pieces.

Joseph Milks, a master’s student in music education, said that progression plays a role in how music is selected for the ensemble.

“We’re picking music that is designed for them to be attainable, but also have something to work on,” Milks said.

Milks said the ensemble builds on those skills each semester with the goal of introducing more challenging music as students progress.

“The goal for the concert band is for everyone here to come out of it having played fun music that is engaging and educational,” Milks said. “We want to continue to build upon skills that the students already have.”

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After experiencing that growth as an undergraduate, Milks is now seeing it from a different side, helping lead some of the same musicians he once worked alongside.

“It was a little strange at first,” Milks said. “When I was in my undergrad, I was working alongside some of these people, and then we got into the master’s position and now suddenly we’re in charge of them.”

Concert Band also gives students a way to continue performing even when music is not their primary field of study.

Jarriatou Ceesay, a freshman psychology major from Birmingham, Alabama, has played in bands since she was around 11 or 12 years old and continued playing clarinet after coming to Troy.

“I played it for years, and I’ve made so many friends through playing clarinet,” Ceesay said. “And the songs that I’ve played on clarinet have been really fun since high school.”

Ceesay said moving from high school band to a college ensemble brought a new environment and a new group of musicians to perform alongside.

Music has remained an important part of her college experience despite Ceesay pursuing psychology rather than a music degree.

“Music is like a universal language, and I think that everyone should do something in music at least once in college,” Ceesay said.

She pointed to ensembles, choir and individual music lessons as different ways students can become involved.